M&S Press Release.

M&S looks East for new wine inspiration

Inspired by the current trend for Eastern Mediterranean food, Marks & Spencer is introducing 15 wines from six Eastern Mediterranean countries. The range includes wines from Croatia, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Slovenia and Greece and will be available in selected stores and online from Thursday 10th May. These wines will complement the recent launch of new Eastern Mediterranean M&S food in its deli, bakery and prepared food ranges.

While M&S has listed wines from Greece, Israel and Lebanon in the past, this is the first time they have covered so many countries from the region. Winemaker Belinda Kleinig and wine buyer Emma Dawson tasted over 400 wines before making their final choices. “We were genuinely excited to find a large variety of unique and delicious wines” said Dawson, “It was very hard to come to our final selection but we now have 15 new wines and we’re thrilled to be sharing these discoveries with our customers.”

Retailing between £7.99 and £12.49 the range has been put together to show the variety and versatility of these countries. Alongside local grape varieties such as the Greek Moschofilero, Croatian Graševina and Turkish Kalecik Karası, there will be more familiar names including a Slovenian Pinot Grigio and an Israeli Merlot, making it easier for customers to enjoy experimenting with wine from these new countries.

“We are constantly on the look-out for new and interesting wines – our wine buying team has spent many months working with wineries in each of these countries and is very pleased to be able to offer such a broad range of both native varietals and more international styles.”, said Andrew Bird, Head of Trading, Drinks.

The Eastern Mediterranean range will be available across the UK through M&S larger stores. They will also be offered through M&S Wine Direct where they will be available to buy as a single case or as a mixed Eastern Mediterranean taster case.